No time to panic about Groh
David Teel
October 8 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Virginia completed the first half of its football season
Saturday, and the Cavaliers' midterm grade is obvious.
They are failing.
No generous D or D-minus for this bunch. They are 2-4 after the soft portion of
their schedule and deficient in every area.
Many teams and countless students have recovered from depressing midterms, but
such a reversal is difficult to envision after watching Virginia fall at East
Carolina 31-21 Saturday.
The Pirates are a low-level Conference USA program less than two years removed
from a messy coaching change. They were without their best running back and
receiver.
Yet Virginia never threatened. ECU (2-3) scored the game's first 10 points, led
by 17 at halftime and owned the fourth quarter after an Emmanuel Byers dropped
pass doomed the Cavaliers' last hope.
With Byers running a deep cross on a third-and-5 from ECU's 49, redshirt
freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell made one of his few quality throws. If Byers
hangs on, Virginia is primed to draw within three points.
But he didn't, perhaps the defining moment of a lost evening.
Other images: Deyon Williams dropping a short pass and lamely pleading with head
linesman Perry Hudspeth that his knee was down before the drop; head coach Al
Groh and defensive coordinator Mike London virtually motionless, arms folded,
after ECU quarterback James Pinkney snared a high shotgun snap and scrambled 5
yards for the touchdown that gave the Pirates a 24-7 halftime lead.
Dropped passes, missed tackles, inept quarterback play, botched coverages, poor
pass protection and inconsistent run blocking: Virginia's issues remain
unchanged from the opener at Pittsburgh.
Sure, 2006 figured to be a trying season in Charlottesville. But losing at home
to Western Michigan? And convincingly at ECU?
Not that trying. Why, even a home victory over Wyoming was an overtime taffy
pull decided on a missed extra point.
It has come to this for Virginia's offense: The Cavaliers' most effective passer
is Byers, a junior wide receiver.
His 22-yard, first-quarter touchdown strike to Williams was the third of his
career, as many as any quarterback in the program, and his second in as many
games.
In his third college start, Sewell reverted to his first-half form at Georgia
Tech, bouncing throws into the turf or sailing them over receivers' heads. His
most impressive completion was a third-quarter, 27-yarder to tight end Tom Santi.
Alas, Sewell crossed the line of scrimmage before releasing the ball, nullifying
the gain.
It has come to this for Virginia's defense: The Cavaliers can't stop a team
absent its leading rusher and receiver - Chris Johnson and Aundrae Allison
missed the game due to injuries.
ECU posted season-highs in offense (432 yards) and rushing yards (208), and
hogged the ball for 38:14. And just for fun, the Pirates scored on a fake field
goal with less than three minutes remaining to cap a 16-play drive that milked
9:02 off the clock.
Virginia even managed to turn Pirates reserve tight end Jay Sonnhalter into a
momentary star. On consecutive first-quarter snaps, the junior recorded the
first receptions of his career, for 22 and 16 yards.
The only defensive starters, again, who earned their keep were ends Chris Long
and Jeffrey Fitzgerald. They combined for 15 tackles, six behind the line of
scrimmage, and three sacks.
Two years ago, ECU began the season 0-4 en route to a 2-9 finish that prompted
the departure of coach John Thompson. That same season, Virginia rose to No. 6
in the Associated Press poll after a 5-0 start.
Now this.
And now comes the hard part. Virginia concludes the regular season with six
conference games, and five of those opponents - the exception is North Carolina
- boast winning records.
The Cavaliers need four victories to become bowl eligible. They need three to
avoid their worst regular season since 1986.
This could get ugly. On the field, in the standings, on the message boards.
But save your fire-Groh rants. As much as he and his staff share in the
Cavaliers' mid-season F, his is a program with three bowl victories in the last
four years. Now is not the time to panic, Saturday's dispiriting defeat
notwithstanding.
After Late Stumble, Friedgen Looks to Steady the Terrapins
By Marc Carig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 9, 2006; Page E06
The questions have been passing over and over again through Maryland Coach Ralph
Friedgen's mind.
What if wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey managed to outrun just one more
defender late in the fourth quarter? What if the Terrapins had called better
plays on third and fourth down, deep in Georgia Tech territory late in the game?
What if quarterback Sam Hollenbach had enough time to make a play?
Who's Blogging?
Read what bloggers are saying about this article.
ACC BasketBlog
Full List of Blogs (1 links) »
Most Blogged About Articles
On washingtonpost.com | On the web
Save & Share Article What's This?
DiggGoogle
del.icio.usYahoo!
Reddit
"I wish he didn't get tripped up," Friedgen said about Heyward-Bey. "That's how
close we are."
Had the young wide receiver stayed on his feet on Maryland's final possession,
the Terps likely would have pulled off the upset of the No. 18 Yellow Jackets on
Saturday. Instead, a defender brought down Heyward-Bey at the 7-yard line and
the Terps, now 3-2, missed a chance to score an upset in their ACC opener,
losing 27-23.
"As hard as it is, from a coaching standpoint and [the] players' standpoint,
there's nothing we can do about it now," Friedgen said yesterday. He sounded
more composed than on Saturday, when for the first time this season, he got
angry.
"We're right in that game and we really gave them the game," he said. "If
nothing else, it should prove to our players that they can play with a very good
football team. What I think I have to do with them is show the positives. We're
close, but we're not there."
After the near miss -- the Terps led by nine in the fourth quarter -- Friedgen
said he doesn't plan to deviate from the Terrapins' routine the rest of the way.
"You don't just make change for change's sake," he said.
Running back Lance Ball turned in Maryland's first 100-yard rushing performance
of the season, which was largely overshadowed by his game-altering fumble.
Ball carried a team-high 23 times for 116 yards. He highlighted the afternoon
with a 42-yard run, the longest from scrimmage for any Terrapin this year. But
the fumble with about 11 minutes left in the game, the result of a sloppy
exchange between Ball and Hollenbach, set up the go-ahead touchdown for Georgia
Tech.
"It could have been a big running play and it turned out to be a touchdown for
them in a tough spot," Friedgen said.
Meantime, Keon Lattimore carried five times for just two yards and Josh Allen
didn't record a carry. But Friedgen said he plans on sticking with a three-man
rotation at running back.
"We just felt he was the hot guy," Friedgen said of Ball. "He broke a couple
runs and we kind of went with him."
Heyward-Bey recorded Maryland's first 100-yard receiving performance of the
season, catching five passes for a career-high 111 yards. More than half of
those yards came on his 57-yard catch and run that gave the Terrapins a chance
to win it at game's end.
"I see him gaining confidence each and every day," Friedgen said.
Senior wide receiver Drew Weatherly made his season debut after missing the
first four games with a stress fracture in his right foot, but did not record a
catch.
Leitao diplomatic about goals
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
October 11, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About a year ago, Virginia’s Dave Leitao sat on a dais at University Hall and
shied away from any questions pertaining to specific goals for the 2005-06
campaign.
Could you blame him?
The first-year coach had just inherited a team that finished 4-12 in the ACC and
missed the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year.
In addition, Leitao had limited knowledge of the players in the program,
including the three freshmen who had been recruited by his predecessor.
By late December, Leitao was down to eight scholarship players (after two
players left the school) and was using walk-ons. At that point, questions about
expectations - especially in the aftermath of losses - were no longer shied away
from.
They were met with Leitao scowls.
So, on Tuesday, about 10 minutes into Virginia’s 2006-07 Media Day at John Paul
Jones Arena, there was a bit of suspense in the air when Leitao was asked if his
team had the goods to make the NCAA Tournament this year.
“A lot of it will have to do with our opponents,” said Leitao, very
matter-of-factly. “I’d like to think that we’ll be better. If you look at the
other teams in this league, Maryland is going to be better. Clemson is going to
be better. There are enough teams to stake claim to the [idea] they’re going to
better than they were last year.
“This early, with goals and expectations, there are only a couple of teams in
the country that can say, ‘We’re trying to win a national championship.’ Even
fewer teams would say, ‘We’re going to win the league championship or make the
NCAAs or whatever.
“Goals will be established once we get a better feel for our young guys and what
they can contribute, how we can work on our chemistry and ultimately what this
team is going to be about. But with everybody back, there is room for optimism
that we can be better, and we’re hoping to be.”
After holding its own in the ACC last year (the Cavaliers went 7-9) and making
it to the NIT with a cupboard as empty as a 33-year-old bachelor’s, the bar for
Leitao’s squad has been raised significantly by Wahoo Nation.
Virginia didn’t lose a single scholarship player from last year’s team, has
brought in seven new players, and is playing its first season in a
state-of-the-art arena that cost $130 million.
While Leitao may have been beating around the bush a little on his March Madness
sound bytes, his players were not.
“That’s what everybody wants,” said sophomore post player Lauris Mikalauskas.
“If we didn’t make it, it would be a big disappointment because we have a good
team, a new arena, great fans, a good schedule. I don’t see why [we couldn’t]
really.”
Senior guard J.R. Reynolds hasn’t been to the Big Dance in his four years.
“I want it really bad,” Reynolds said. “I’ve wanted it since I got here. This is
the last chance that I get at it. I’ve got to make it a good one and do whatever
it takes to get there.”
Reynolds said much of the team’s fortunes will depend on how quickly the new
players can contribute.
One advantage that Virginia has is that two of its freshmen - Will Harris and
Solomon Tat - aren’t your average first-year college students. Both players are
20 years old and are already more physically developed than some NBA players.
Ryan Pettinella, another of the imports, has two years of college experience,
having transferred from the University of Pennsylvania.
Because of all this, Virginia’s All-ACC point guard Sean Singletary agreed that
the team’s goals are loftier than last year’s. But when asked specifically about
the NCAA Tournament, Singletary pulled a Leitao, circa 2005.
“I always want to win and I expect nothing less, but you never know how the ball
is going to bounce,” Singletary said. “All you know is what you’ve done, how
much work you’ve put in and [you] try and get the best out of that.”
DUNKS: For the last month, Singletary has been saying he’s 100 percent recovered
from hip and knee injuries. Leitao agreed but said his floor general isn’t ready
to play in a game yet. “From an injury standpoint, he doesn’t have any lingering
effects,” Leitao said. “I think just a couple things have to happen. One, his
knee [tendonitis] has to just feel better, and time is going to take care of
that. The other thing is he has to be tested. He hasn’t been out there in a
basketball situation since the Stanford game. He has to fall on [the hip] and
cut and run in order to regain the kind of confidence anyone [needs] after
they’ve had that kind of surgery.”
… Leitao said he had no set timetable for making his decision on redshirting
Jerome Meyinsse, a 17-year-old freshman from Louisiana. “If other guys are more
ready to play and there’s just not going to be the minutes, and the minutes he
would play wouldn’t be quality minutes, then it may be in his best interest to,”
Leitao said. “We’ll address it, but it isn’t something he or I have talked a
whole lot about.”
… Virginia announced that it has sold 7,400 season tickets, which school
officials said is on pace to meet the first-season goal of 8,000.
It's hard out here for a coach
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 11, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the chicken finally made it to the buffet line at Virginia’s football and
basketball press conferences on Tuesday, media members had to make some tough
decisions: eat or listen to Al Groh.
Observing the situation, the coach made a quick announcement.
“You’ve asked me to help you make a choice between the chicken or this press
conference, what would be better,” Groh said. “I’ll just put it to you this way:
you can stay at your table and have chicken or you can come over here and get a
lot of baloney.”
After a pause, Groh added, “Personally, I’d stay with the chicken ... I already
know what this baloney is going to taste like.”
Who said that Groh doesn’t have a sense of humor?
Take him or leave him
However, there are two camps in Virginia football these days. Either you like
Groh or you don’t. It’s difficult to tell what percentages of the fan base fall
on either side.
After last season’s 7-5 campaign, Wahoo fans were hoping for a great year.
Sitting at 2-4 at the halfway mark is not what they had in mind, particularly
with losses to Western Michigan and East Carolina.
Any outsiders who get the drift that there’s not a lot of patience or sympathy
in the fan base would get a free pass to the front of the Dick Tracy line.
Some fans find Groh arrogant. Some find him interesting. Some believe he has a
grand plan to pull Virginia out of this mess, even if it takes until next year.
Some believe the program is doomed. Some would rather not give him a chance to
find out, while some hope he coaches here until he’s ready to retire.
Knowing the score
Whether the coach helped or hurt himself during his baloney-slinging on Tuesday
is also up for interpretation.
When asked if he understood why some fans are so frustrated, so passionate that
they are quick to be critical, some even downright nasty, Groh said he
understood the process.
“Nobody,” he said, then paused for emphasis, “nobody on this Earth is having
less fun with this than I am. I don’t usually make ‘I’ statements, and I usually
don’t make ever, never, always [statements], but I feel fairly safe in making
that one.”
Groh said that he understands fans but that he doesn’t think fans understand
coaches quite the same way.
“I think I know what it’s like to be a fan,” Groh said. “I don’t think most
people know what my life is like, what I do all day long, what the other coaches
do, why we do what we do. Hey, look, I’m a fan, too. That’s what we have in
common. What we don’t have in common is that most fans aren’t coaches. I think
that’s fairly reasonable, isn’t it?”
Considering that I’ve hung out with coaches most of my life and some of my best
friends are coaches, or ex-coaches on the high school, collegiate and NFL level,
I think Groh’s assumption about that is fairly reasonable.
The coach tried to use an analogy that perhaps wasn’t the best in the world. I
don’t think he meant it to be arrogant, but some have already interpreted it in
that fashion.
“I fly on a lot of airplanes,” Groh said. “Just because I fly on airplanes,
doesn’t make me qualified to be a pilot. I own stocks. Just because I own stocks
doesn’t mean I have any idea how and why my broker picks the stocks.
“As a result, I don’t have any opinion as to what the pilot should do, whether
he should have flown at 35,000 feet or 15,000 feet. I figure, he’s trained, he’s
got all the facts, he knows what he’s doing, he knows a lot more about it than I
do. I just let him fly the plane.”
Some immediately took offense out there in cyberspace, radio land and newspaper
world. They think Groh was trying to put them down, tell them they were idiots
who know nothing about football. Well, there’s a small percentage of you who may
really know football and then there’s a huge percentage who think they know
football.
Just because you watch endless games on television, doesn’t mean that you really
know football.
Oh yeah? Wanna bet?
OK, quickly, tell me how to disguise stunts and blitzes? Got that one? Well,
what changes in a seven-man front to an eight-man front against the following:
the flow play, flood play, ace set, trey set, deuce formation, and one-back set?
Give me the basics on two-deep, three-deep zones, halves, quarters, press man?
How about the checklist of responsibilities of the pre-snap read? How do you
deal with pulling linemen? How do you set up a kickoff coverage team?
I’m not trying to be arrogant, either. I’m trying to explain that the two
paragraphs above are just the tip of the iceberg of stuff coaches deal with
every week against whatever the opponent brings to the table and all 12
opponents are usually different and present a different set of challenges that
make coaches come in at 6 a.m. and leave their offices somewhere between 8 p.m.
and midnight.
Most of us have no idea what it takes to run a football team, no more than if
someone were to put you into the cockpit of a 747 with the simple instructions
of, go ahead, fly.
“It’s a great country,” Groh said. “In this country, anybody can say what they
want whether they know the facts or not. It’s a great thing about America.”
The coach’s ears were probably still burning from his Monday night radio call-in
show where he didn’t dodge any questions from the audience, knowing full well
some of them just might be intelligent observations, while others just ranted.
Personally, I believe Virginia’s coaches knew this was going to be a very
difficult year and when it became evident that neither of the upperclassmen
quarterbacks were going to take them places, they hitched their wagon to
redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell for the future.
Is that saying they are throwing away this year? No. There are six games left,
the next two winnable for sure, some of the others not quite as daunting as they
appeared in the preseason.
Will it be painful to be a Cavalier fan? You betcha. We warned you here a few
weeks ago that Sewell is going to endure the beatdown that any rookie
quarterback experiences. There will be highs and lows.
As Chan Gailey, the Georgia Tech coach said recently, without a quarterback that
can consistently make plays, you’re up the creek. Can’t win if you can’t score.
Next year, Sewell will return with a year’s experience. The entire team with the
exception of Jason Snelling, Fontel Mines, Marcus Hamilton and perhaps Deyon
Williams, should be back, along with a redshirt class that includes some pretty
talented players.
Does that mean Virginia will win the ACC title next season? Nope. It does mean
that the Cavaliers should be back on course.
For those of you who want Groh’s head, forget about it. He’s not going anywhere
this year. Should Virginia suffer through another losing campaign in ’07, well,
that’s another story, but one most of those who closely follow the program don’t
think will be written.
Home sweet versus Terps
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 11, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To the home team goes the victory.
That has been the overriding storyline in the Maryland-Virginia rivalry since
both programs landed their current head coaches.
UVa (2-3, 1-1 ACC) has been perfect at home against the Terrapins under coach Al
Groh - the Cavaliers, in fact, have not lost at home to Maryland since 1990.
Maryland (3-2, 0-1 ACC) has won three straight in the series at Byrd Stadium
under coach Ralph Friedgen, including a 45-33 victory last year as the Terps
amassed 570 yards of total offense.
Virginia’s wins under Groh against Maryland have been quite impressive. The same
can be said for Maryland.
The losses, meanwhile, have been rather forgettable.
“I am sure that both teams would probably say the same thing,” Groh said. “We
have had probably two of our best played games here in this series and we’ve had
three of the games where we really were disappointed in our level of play.
“Clearly, it works both ways.”
While history is on Groh’s side, the coach has been very impressed with
Maryland’s improvement this season. He said it started after the opening half in
the Terps’ 45-24 loss at West Virginia on Sept. 14.
“A key thing that we have noticed about Maryland is that pretty much from the
second half of the West Virginia game on, the improvement was in their
execution,” Groh said. “It really was from half to half.”
West Virginia scored 28 points in the first quarter against the Terps and
cruised into halftime with a 38-10 lead.
Last week, Maryland played Georgia Tech tight on the road and had a chance to
steal a victory before the Yellow Jackets made one final stand.
Groh said it was apparent that the Terps’ offense, defense and special teams
units “really spiked up.”
Kicking it
Getting cornerback Marcus Hamilton off the field is no easy task.
Despite missing Virginia’s home contest against Western Michigan with a shoulder
injury, the senior has been on the field for 304 plays.
That made it alarming when Hamilton pulled himself from the Cavaliers’ game
against East Carolina.
Hamilton had good reason.
“I got kicked in my leg,” Hamilton said. “It was just tightening up a little
bit. I am fine now, but I didn’t want it to get too tight so I kept coming out.”
Standing out
When Virginia’s captains walk out for the coin toss on Saturday, they will be
joined by a walk-on wide receiver that many fans have never heard of.
Staton Jobe, who is from Austin, Texas, was given that honor after being named
the Player of the Week from the Cavaliers’ scout team for the week leading up to
the East Carolina game.
“He was in our camp before his senior year and we were very enthusiastic about
him deciding to come here,” Groh said. “He has really good speed and has picked
things up quickly.”
While Jobe is not expected to play this season, Groh said his work ethic in
practice has been a blessing.
“Every play is full throttle… every drill, every play,” Groh said. “He likes
football and he has a lot of fun doing it. The fact that he is not going to play
in the game on Saturday makes no difference to him - it is just football.”
Going deep
Through six games, Virginia ranks among the worst programs in the country in a
number of offensive categories.
In total offense, UVa is 115th, ahead of only Duke, Utah State, Temple and North
Texas. Those teams have combined to go 3-20 thus far.
One obvious reason is the absence of big plays. While eight different players
have receptions that went for at least 20 yards, the biggest play was a 32-yard
completion from Kevin McCabe to tight end Tom Santi.
Blame part of that on the slow development of the passing game, Groh said.
“Most [long plays] come from sticking that ball up the field,” Groh said.
Getting honored
Twelve Cavalier players from the 1941 football team will be honored during a
65th reunion this weekend.
The squad, which has been regarded as one of the most successful in program
history, compiled an 8-1 record for coach Frank Murray. The ’41 team recorded
five shutouts and allowed more than seven points in only one game, a 21-19 loss
to Yale.
The team also featured one of the most versatile Cavaliers, the legendary
“Bullet” Bill Dudley.
As a 19-year-old senior, Dudley had a hand in 209 of the 279 points scored. In
addition to playing running back, Dudley was also the placekicker and a member
of the defense.
Extra points …
… Wide receiver Deyon Williams said he expects to play this week, which would
put an end to the possibility of a redshirt season. Williams, a senior, has
played in two games since returning from surgery on a stress fracture in his
right foot.
… Wide receiver Andrew Pearman (knee) has not returned to practice and Groh did
not announce a timetable for his return. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound sophomore had
surgery last week to “clean out fragments” from his knee. The surgery was
successful.
… One of the brightest spots on the field this season, Groh said, has been at
defensive end. Junior Chris Long has made 27 tackles, while redshirt freshman
Jeffrey Fitzgerald has 31 and currently leads all freshmen in college football
with 11 tackles for a loss.
Last season, Long was given the unfortunate honor of going against Maryland
offensive lineman Jared Gaither, who is listed at 6-9 and 350 pounds.
“‘Mammoth’ is a good word,” Groh said of Gaither. “If there’s such a word, his
mammoth-ness kind of engulfed Chris on some circumstances.”
Long can feel some relief. Gaither is now lined up at right tackle and will be
matched up against Fitzgerald.
… Maryland is currently listed as a 4 ½-point favorite for Saturday’s game,
which will not be televised.
U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Oct 11, 2006
WAR OF WORDS: Virginia fans are upset about the state of the school's football
program. The man who oversees that program -- sixth-year coach Al Groh -- is the
target of much of the criticism. He's not thrilled about the Cavaliers' 2-4
start, either.
"Nobody on this earth is having less fun with this than I am," Groh said
yesterday at his weekly press conference.
On Groh's radio show Monday night, the mood frequently was tense, as callers
hammered Groh for his team's decline. (The Cavaliers have lost 13 of their past
25 games.)
One irate man, who identified himself as "Clyde from Forest," said, "We're
headed back to the '70s now. It's not funny. People are making fun of us."
Asked yesterday if he understands why U.Va. fans are frustrated, Groh said, "I
understand fans. I don't think fans understand coaches quite the same way that
coaches understand fans. I think I know what it's like to be a fan. I don't
think most people know what my life is like, what I do all day long, what the
other coaches do, why we do what we do."
Nonetheless, Groh said, he won't try to suppress his critics.
"In this country, anybody can say what they want, whether they know the facts or
not," he said. "That's the great thing about America. . . . But let me put it to
you this way. I fly on a lot of airplanes. A lot. Just because I fly on
airplanes doesn't make me qualified to be a pilot. I own stocks. Just because I
own stocks doesn't mean I have any idea how and why my broker picks the stocks.
"Look, I'm a fan, too. That's why I understand fans. That's what we have in
common. What we don't have in common is that most fans aren't coaches. I think
that's fairly reasonable, isn't it?"
U.Va. (1-1, 2-4) hosts ACC rival Maryland (0-1, 3-2) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in a
game that won't be televised. This will be the Cavaliers' first game at Scott
Stadium since Sept. 16.
LONG-TERM COMMITMENT: Except for one series late in the 37-0 rout of Duke,
redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell has taken all the snaps for the Cavaliers the
past three games. Sewell, who began the season third on the depth chart, has
struggled at times, but Groh said he hasn't considered a quarterback change.
"We have a very positive feel and picture for where this is going to go," Groh
said, "and we know the only way to do that is to go through the process. And
whatever the growing pains may be, we know it's the best path to take and we're
committed to it."
For the season, Sewell has completed 51 of 93 passes for 394 yards and three
touchdowns. He's thrown two interceptions but none in his past two games.
CLASS ACT: Senior wideout Fontel Mines, who preceded Sewell at Hermitage High,
isn't one of U.Va.'s team captains, but his leadership ability is unquestioned.
Mines has stopped by Groh's office several times this season, always with the
same question.
"What else can I do to help?" Groh said. "That's his only question. . . . He is
very conscientious about his own performance, and he's very mindful of the
team."
Mines, who's in his second season as a full-time starter, had perhaps his best
all-around game as a Cavalier on Saturday night. In a 31-21 loss at East
Carolina, Mines had four catches for 35 yards and one touchdown, on a
spectacular grab in the end zone of a 9-yard pass from Sewell on U.Va.'s final
drive.
Through six games, Mines has 17 catches for 164 yards and two TDs.
FREAK OF NATURE: A season ago, Maryland totaled 570 yards of offense and whipped
U.Va. 45-33 at Byrd Stadium. The Terrapins started a true freshman at left
offensive tackle, Jared Gaither, and he "kind of overwhelmed" Cavaliers
defensive end Chris Long, Groh said.
The mammoth Gaither can have that effect on defensive linemen. He's listed at
6-9, 350 pounds. Long, who stands 6-4, weighs about 285 pounds.
"Mammoth is a good word," Groh said. "I was going to say size, but size
understates the issue. If there's such a word, his mammoth-ness kind of engulfed
Chris on some circumstances."
Gaither is at right tackle this season. That might "give Chris some relief,"
Groh said with a smile, "but it's not necessarily good news for Jeffrey."
Jeffrey Fitzgerald, a redshirt freshman who's tied for the ACC lead with nine
tackles for loss, starts at left defensive end for U.Va.
Long, asked Monday night about Gaither, said that "with the job I have as a
defensive end in this system, I have to be able to block people that size. I'm
not feeling sorry for myself."
HEIR APPARENT? U.Va.'s starting center, Jordy Lipsey, is a redshirt junior, as
is his backup, Ian-Yates Cunningham, who starts at right guard. So who'll be the
Cavaliers' starter at that position in 2008?
One possibility is Jack Shields, a 6-5, 252-pound true freshman from Duxbury,
Mass. Shields has been working at tight end this fall, but U.Va. "can see the
potential of him maybe becoming a center," Groh said recently. "We've talked to
Jack, and he sees the potential there." -- Jeff White
There's no more fun in games as the Cavaliers' losses pile up
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 11, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE - It's official: Al Groh is not having much fun these days.
On his radio call-in show Monday night, the Virginia football coach took an
unusual amount of heat from fans, including one who suggested he was taking the
program back to the dark days of the 1970s.
At his weekly news conference Tuesday, Groh fielded question after question
about his 2-4 team, off to its worst start in 18 years, and facing the tougher
half of its 12-game schedule beginning Saturday against Maryland.
Groh said he understands some fans are upset and that second-guessing comes with
the turf for a college coach. But he wanted to make one point clear:
"Nobody, nobody on this earth is having less fun with this than I am," he said.
Running a close second in the no-fun department are the Cavaliers players,
particularly veterans such as receiver Deyon Williams, who was part of 23 wins,
including two bowl victories, in his first three years in uniform; and
fifth-year players Jason Snelling and Marcus Hamilton, who had been on campus
for 32 wins and three bowl triumphs prior to this season.
"No one would want their senior year to end like this or be going like this,"
Williams said.
Or their freshman, sophomore or junior year for that matter. Virginia's lone
wins have come over Duke, in a rout, and over Mountain West visitor Wyoming, on
a missed extra point in overtime. The Cavaliers have fallen to Georgia Tech,
Pittsburgh, Western Michigan and East Carolina.
Latest Videos
Nintendo Fusion Tour Rocks Norfolk
Flooding In Franklin On Day 2 As The River Crests
Hip-Hop Duo ''Smokeville'' Lights Up The Underground
Downtown Franklin Begins To Flood Monday
Baghdad is Burning
Guardsman Wounds Man in New Orleans
See the complete Pilot, exactly as in print
- View stories, photos and ads
- E-mail clippings
- Print copies
Log in or learn more
And that was the easier half of the schedule. Five of the six teams remaining
currently have winning records.
Two years ago this week, the Cavaliers were 5-0 and ranked No. 6 in the nation.
Now, they look and sound like a team trying to hold its season together.
"Everybody's down. No one's having fun losing games," said Hamilton, a team
captain. "We just have to continue to stick together and work hard."
Groh began tamping down expectations as early as March, saying as spring
practice opened that Virginia, which finished 7-5 with a veteran team last year,
was entering a rebuilding phase, the first of his six-year tenure. The Cavaliers
were picked to finish fourth in the ACC's Coastal Division.
Virginia began the season as a team without an obvious star, with questions at
quarterback and along the offensive line. Players lifted weights in "Average
Joe" work shirts and insisted they'd win games through toughness, execution and
teamwork.
It's clear now that won't be enough, defensive end Chris Long said.
"We came into the season with our identity as a team being business-like," he
said. "We could go out there and take care of our business and be calm. It looks
like we're going to need a spark."
Where it might come from is unclear. Freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell is
making progress, but has just three career starts. His receivers have been
unreliable, dropping several balls against ECU last week. The offensive line
seems to be coming around, producing a season-high 153 rushing yards last week.
The defense, which had been the strength of the team, gave up a season-high 432
yards. Virginia ranks 113th nationally in rushing offense, 115th in total
offense.
Still, as players prepared for practice Tuesday, they remained confident they
are a few missed plays from turning things around.
"I know this is not something that has to be permanent," Snelling said. "We can
change it around and win games."
Said Williams: "We want to get that Virginia football feeling back."
Players say they don't pay attention to what fans or media are saying. Groh
doesn't have that luxury, particularly on Monday nights.
"I understand fans," he said. "I don't think fans understand coaches quite the
same way coaches understand fans."
For instance, Groh said fans don't know what coaches do on a daily basis, or the
reasons behind their decision-making.
"It's a great country," he said. "In this country, anybody can say what they
want, whether they know the facts or not."
Guarded optimism
With the season opener about a month away, the Virginia and its promising
backcourt hope to make its first NCAA tournament since 2001.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
October 11, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The backcourt is, at once, the most promising and potentially
worrisome part of Virginia's men's basketball team.
The promise: Senior shooting guard J.R. Reynolds and junior point guard Sean
Singletary were the Cavaliers' leading scorers last season, averaging 17 and
17.7 points, respectively. That accounted for 51 percent of Virginia's offense,
which averaged 67.9 points, tied for worst in the ACC. The potential worry:
Beyond Reynolds and Singletary, Virginia has no proven guards. Reserve point
guard T.J. Bannister, who would've been a senior this year, transferred during
the offseason to Liberty.
Reynolds, who played point guard at Roanoke Catholic High, also will serve as
the back up to Singletary, a first-team all-ACC selection last season.
Singletary had offseason right-hip surgery and still is working his way back.
Virginia opens the season Nov. 12 against Arizona at home with the hope of
making the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001 and winning a
tournament game for the first time since 1995.
Over the past four seasons, the Cavaliers are 23-57 in the ACC.
Second-year Virginia coach Dave Leitao knows his backcourt will play a big role
in reversing those fortunes. "This team and this program is asking them to do a
lot," he said.
Reynolds playing both shooting guard and point guard isn't ideal. "Playing that
dual role concerns me," Leitao said.
But Virginia's other options are freshmen Solomon Tat and Will Harris and
sophomore Mamadi Diane, who started 11 of 30 games last season and averaged six
points.
"Hopefully, it won't be that much pressure for me and Sean," said Reynolds, who
started at point guard this summer for a travel team that went to the Bahamas.
Singletary is optimistic that Virginia's younger players can provide depth. Tat
and Harris, both 20, certainly don't look like freshmen. Tat is 6-feet-5 and 220
pounds. Harris is 6-feet-6 and 230 pounds.
"It's not gonna be like everybody thinks it is," Singletary said of the
potentially shallow backcourt. "It's not gonna be an issue."
Perhaps because Reynolds and Singletary might get more help this season.
Virginia last year had just eight scholarship players. The Cavaliers now have
12. The NCAA limit is 13.
Front-court players Jason Cain, Laurynas Mikalauskas, Tunji Soroye and Adrian
Joseph combined to score just 24.8 points per game last season. Most of them are
stronger, Leitao said, and the addition of freshman Jamil Tucker (6-8, 230) also
helps.
"The goals for ourselves were real high last year," Singletary said. "It'll be
higher this year, considering what we have."
FREE EXHIBITION
Admission will be free to Virginia's first exhibition game against Augusta State
at the John Paul Jones Arena on Nov. 4. The starting time will be determined
once the kickoff time for the Florida State-Virginia football game is set.
It's time to be a basketball school
Joey Mancini, Cavalier Daily Columnist
Throughout the last 30 years, Virginia has fluctuated between defining itself as
a "basketball school" and a "football school."
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Virginia was a "basketball school", marked by
the iconic status of Ralph Sampson and the program's success before, during and
after his tenure.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, Virginia was a "football school,"
led by a No. 1 national ranking and quarterback Shawn Moore.
During the late 1990s, Virginia slowly moved back toward basketball, with solid
teams under Jeff Jones and early success under Pete Gillen. Almost
simultaneously, the Cavalier football team stepped to the sideline with the end
of the George Welsh era.
Since 2001, however, with the excitement surrounding the return of Al Groh,
Virginia has aspired once again to be a "football school." But those hopes are
in jeopardy with a lackluster season thus far in year six of the Groh era.
In 2006, I believe that Virginia is about to come back full swing toward
basketball. The NCAA Tournament potential of this basketball team, a new arena
and the struggles of the football team will redefine Virginia again as a
"basketball school."
As of late, in true Jeffersonian form, Virginia has aspired to compete at a top
level not only in men's basketball and football but in every other sport at the
University. Until this season, a common sentiment was that both sports were on
the rise, though football was several years ahead on the journey toward national
success.
Unfortunately, it is rare for a school to define itself by excellence in both
football and men's basketball. Not every school can be Florida. Duke, North
Carolina, Kentucky and the University of Connecticut excel at basketball.
Virginia Tech, USC, Auburn, Miami and Florida State play football.
In my view, Virginia must settle on which program it will be defined by. Part of
the reason that the Cavaliers have never found consistent success on the
national level in either football or men's basketball is because the school
continues to fluctuate in defining itself as either a football or a basketball
school.
At this juncture, it would behoove Virginia to focus on basketball. The
five-year potential of the program is tremendous -- a new arena, a second-year
coach, more talent, rising season ticket sales and an aggressive approach toward
achieving success on the national level will drive Virginia in 2006 and beyond.
Ultimately, fans will define the school's athletic focus. Fans respond to
athletic success with their support and their dollars. Season tickets and
booster donations drive funding for athletic departments.
Right now, Virginia fans are helping the athletic department to achieve its goal
to sell 8,000 season tickets for men's basketball (7,419 as of yesterday). Last
year at University Hall, 4,254 season tickets had been sold at this point.
Virginia should seize this momentum in 2006 and move toward its rightful
destination as a basketball school in a basketball conference.
This isn't to say that football should be left in the dust to immediately revert
back to Virginia teams of the 1970s. The program will continue to recruit
decently and play decently. Virginia will be a "pretty good" team year-in and
year-out.
But it is Virginia basketball that is currently headed toward a position where
it can be consistently successful on the national level, if people are willing
to commit to it.
At Virginia basketball media day yesterday, men's coach Dave Leitao talked in
his opening remarks at the press conference about the importance of this season
in the history and for the future of Virginia basketball.
Meanwhile, the Cavalier football team struggles to find itself, standing at 2-4
and heading into three consecutive ACC home games, beginning with Maryland
Saturday.
At some point, to achieve consistent success on a national level, Virginia must
decide to focus on one major collegiate sport -- football or basketball. In the
next few months, I hope that fans, inspired by a new arena and an NCAA
Tournament berth, will make the decision to head back to the basketball court
for good.
UVa Notebook: Groh says fans don't understand what coaches do
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 11, 2006
Give your opinion on this story
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Al Groh can hear the critics. It's hard not when they call
into your radio show. He just doesn't agree with them.
With a 2-4 record this season, the head coach is off to his worst start since
coming to Virginia in 2001. In fact, it's the worst six-game start the Cavaliers
have had since going 2-4 in 1988. That team won five straight games and finished
second in the ACC.
"I understand fans," Groh said. "I don't think fans understand coaches. ? I
think I know what it's like to be a fan. I don't think most people know what my
life is like, what I do all day long, what the other coaches do, why we do what
we do.
"It's a great country. In this country, anybody can say what they want, whether
they know the facts or not. That's the great thing about America."
Groh's detractors have a litany of complaints, from his preference for the 3-4
defense to installing his son as offensive coordinator to rotating quarterbacks
in the first few weeks before eventually settling on redshirt freshman Jameel
Sewell. But he doesn't believe the cynics are in a position to be making such
claims.
"Let me put it this way: I fly on a lot of airplanes. A lot," Groh said. "Just
because I fly on airplanes doesn't make me qualified to be a pilot. ? As a
result, I don't really have any opinion. He should have flown to 35,000 feet or
15,000 feet. I don't have any opinion. I figure he's trained. He's got all the
facts. He knows what he's doing. He knows a lot more about it than I do. I just
let him fly the plane."
Things don't get easier for the Cavaliers. With the exception of North Carolina,
the remaining five teams on their schedule have winning records. Five went to
bowl games last season and the sixth - Maryland, their opponent this week -
appears to be much improved from last year, taking No. 18 Georgia Tech to the
wire on the road in a narrow loss last week.
"Nobody on this earth is having less fun with this than I am," Groh said. "I
don't usually make 'I' statements, and I usually don't make 'ever,' 'never,'
'always' (statements), but I feel fairly safe in making that one."
Sticking with Sewell
Despite the offense's continued struggles since Sewell became the starter, Groh
said he hasn't thought about pulling him.
"I think we have a very positive picture for where this is going to go," Groh
said. "We know the only way to do that is to go through the process and whatever
the growing pains might be. We know it's the best path and we're committed to
it."
Sewell is 51-for-93 (54.8 percent) for 394 yards with three touchdowns and two
interceptions in 14-plus quarters of action. He's shown slight improvement from
week to week, however. Against East Carolina, he threw for a career high 123
yards, a stat that was not helped by several drops by the wide receivers.
Groh pointed out that quarterbacks have different learning curves. Former ACC
player of the year Matt Schaub, for instance, didn't lock down the starting job
until the second game of his fourth year at Virginia in 2002.
"He had the whole year before to play, the whole training camp, the whole spring
practice and then had a bomb in the first game (against Colorado State)," Groh
said. "Then whatever caused it ? he's never slowed down since.
"That was his timetable. Who's to say what this player's timetable will be? I
think it might be real soon."
Extra points
Sophomore wide receiver Andrew Pearman has not returned to practice since having
surgery to clean up loose particles in one of his knees, though Groh said the
surgery went well. He gave no timetable for Pearman's return. ? Good news for
defensive end Chris Long. He won't have to face Maryland's 6-foot-9, 350-pound
tackle Andrew Gaither, who had his way with the Long last year in the Terrapins'
45-33 win in College Park. That's because Gaither has moved from left tackle to
right tackle and will square off with UVa's left defensive end, Jeffrey
Fitzgerald. "That's not necessarily good news for Jeffrey," Groh said.
Virginia back up to par with 12 scholarship basketball players
By Andy bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 11, 2006
Give your opinion on this story
CHARLOTTESVILLE - One by one, players from the Virginia men's basketball team
filed into the courtside seats at the John Paul Jones Arena for the team's media
day on Tuesday.
First a few. Then a few more. Then enough that a couple had to be sent to the
other end of the court to do interviews.
This in itself is as good a sign as Dave Leitao has seen since taking over the
program.
Virginia's roster has 14 names on it. With the addition of four freshmen and one
transfer, twelve of those players are on scholarship, a far cry from the end of
last season, when UVa had eight scholarship players and often used a seven- or
eight-man rotation.
"I don't know that any coach wants to play seven or eight guys," said Leitao,
who went 15-15 in his first season at UVa and received a postseason NIT bid.
"You may have a seven- or eight-man rotation, but if that's all you're dealing
with on a day-to-day basis, it doesn't matter what style you play, or how you
want to coach, or how conservative you are, or how aggressive you are, you just
don't have the numbers to have the options that every team has."
The Cavaliers, who open the regular season at the John Paul Jones Arena on Nov.
12 against Arizona, looked sluggish down the stretch last year.
Center Tunji Soroye was bothered by a groin injury. Point guard Sean Singletary
was limited by a hip injury that required offseason surgery. Neither missed a
game once conference play started.
"I think a lot of people got banged up with different injuries but still had to
play the same minutes they were playing midway through the season and expected
to perform the same," sophomore wing Mamadi Diane said. "It was tough."
"Everybody was dead at some point," Soroye said.
The biggest hindrance was at practice. By the end of last year, Virginia barely
had enough players to split into two separate teams for drills. Even when it
did, there were few subs.
"I can remember being exhausted just going through a couple drills," senior
guard J.R. Reynolds said. "Now that we have so many guys, it's like you can take
a break."
Of course this presents a new problem for the Cavaliers.
"As I joke with them, never once last year did I have an issue about playing
time," Leitao said. "Nobody said, 'Coach, you're not playing me enough.'
"Now that we have more options, there will be some times when you have to decide
who's going to play and who's not going to play. And that's not going to keep
everybody happy every minute."
It's a dilemma Leitao will gladly face.
Note
Virginia's exhibition game against Augusta State at the John Paul Jones Arena on
Nov. 4 is open to the public at no charge. The game time will be decided once
the kickoff for Virginia's football game that same day at Florida State is
announced.